METEOR SHOWER RETURNS

The world's oldest recorded meteor shower makes a return visit early Thursday morning in what astronomers say may be ideal viewing of shooting stars.

The Lyrid meteor shower, first noticed 2,680 years ago by Chinese astronomers, will peak about 5 a.m. on Thursday. People will see bright streaks -- with a white afterglow -- in the moonless sky, Fort Lauderdale astronomer Arnold Pearlstein said.

Lyrids are not usually one of the more vivid meteor showers, but because there will be no moon out and because it will peak at night, it will be a better than normal display, Pearlstein said. About 10 to 15 shooting stars will be seen in an hour, he said.

What will be seen is the debris from Comet Thatcher. Don't look for the comet, though. It comes around only once every 400 years and was last seen in 1861.